Are you in the market for a new computer for the holidays? If you're thinking about a Windows-based machine, somewhere in the back of your mind you've got to be worried about buying an XP machine when Vista is coming. Well, Microsoft is trying to allay these fears. They've announced special deals for people who purchase a new computer between Oct. 26, 2006 and March 15, 2007. The customers will pay "a nominal fee" to upgrade to Vista. New computers will be part of the "Express Upgrade to Windows Vista" program.
This is all great PR, and it was a prominent point made in the keynote speech at the DigitalLife conference earlier this month, but I'm not sure how much it's going to change things. Microsoft, and pretty much all of the Windows-based PC manufacturers have got to be sweating bullets. The holiday season is coming, and they're selling hardware with an outdated operating system. If a consumer was ever going to jump to the Apple side of the fence, this would be the time. Microsoft is trying to keep those customers with the promise of upgrading the OS whenever it becomes available. Of course, nowhere do they say what the "nominal upgrade fee" will actually be.
The Windows Vista Team Blog's post about the plan has been met with an onslaught of questions in the comments section. I'm going to need a new computer for my home very soon, and this news has absolutely no effect on me whatsoever. There's no way I'm making this kind of investment in a piece of hardware with the promise of an upgrade down the road. I won't be jumping ship and buying an Apple either (even if the Apple kid from the commercials was in "Dodgeball.") I'm just going to stay out of the market until I can get a new machine with Vista pre-installed on it. — Brian Ward
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